a laundry question

[ProudGrandma]

my 3 kids (ages 13, 11 and 9) for the most part do their own laundry....including putting it away.  But with my boys, that means just throwing them in their dresser drawer.   Since its t-shirts and sweat pants, PJ's and underwear and socks,  I haven't made a deal about it, but I was wondering if anybody else makes a big deal about it or not.  They would be able to fit more in their drawers if they would at least sort of fold it...but as of now, they end up with clothes hanging out of their drawers because they too full. 

 

I could instill a rule that whatever sticks out, is mine...but I don't know if this a something to worry about or not.  What do you do?

[regentrude]

My kids put their laundry away by piling it on their closet shelves and in the storage baskets in their closets. Clothes are not folded precisely or neatly sorted, and would drive me crazy. But it is a battle I have chosen not to fight: these are their clothes, and really, whether a T-shirt is stored inside-out loosely folded and turned around just before wearing, or lives folded on an orderly aligned rectangular stack makes not much of a difference. Not a hill to die on, for me.

I do. however, insist that nice dress shirts and dresses are put neatly  on hangers. This they will do.

 

 

 

[Amira]

I don't worry about it.

[Ripley]

I don't think it's unreasonable to have a general rule that all drawers must close completely.

 

I'm a "messy" and laundry isn't high on my list of things to do (or care about), so I treat the chore about the same as your kids do: Get 'er done, call it good.  But having had a number of uncomfortable conversations with roommates and an ex-husband who didn't share my laissez-faire approach to laundry ... but did share my living space ... I learned to compromise with: the drawer has to close, the closet door can't be blocked, things must lay or be stacked flat on the shelves. LOL

 

If you were doing their laundry, I'd say it's your call; since they do their laundry, I'd offer them a choice on how to handle the issue of drawers not closing completely.  Choice A might be to reduce what's in the drawers so that there's no overflow from shoving clothes in.  Choice B might be to keep all current inventory, but make time to fold everything.  I choose Choice A, myself, but I have one kid that opts for Choice B. She folds while watching a 30 minute tv show, which feels win-win.

[gardenmom5]

drawers must close.  closet doors must be able to close (even if they leave them open).  those are basics.

[NoseInABook]

I don't know why I even bother to fold because my older three dress themselves and just rummage through the drawers. Loosely folded is okay for me or else I'd be going insane. As long as the drawers close, I'm good.

[AK_Mom4]

I don't make a big deal about it EXCEPT for dress clothes.  I put them on hangers straight out of the dryer and I expect everyone to KEEP them on hangers until they are worn.  I have a deep-set hated for unnecessary ironing caused by tossing a dress shirt into a drawer.

 

Mine kids were always required to "fix" their dresser drawers as part of cleaning their room.  Things were still messy, but not visible.

[Hypatia.]

I don't worry about it for the most part.  DD1 (7) realized on her own that everything fits better when she folds it and started doing so on her own.  DD2 (5) would happily wear the same outfit for a month and stuff the clean laundry behind her bed.   :glare: DS1 (9) doesn't care about folding it and will just cram everything in his drawers, the general rule is just that the drawers have to close.